Eclipse

A solar eclipse just at dawn and the Perseid meteor shower top the list of astronomical events for amateur observers in August.The eclipse of the sun will occur on Aug. 11. The eclipse will be total nowhere in North America, but it still should be a dramatic sight -- plus it will be the last solar eclipse of the millennium. The eclipse will reach its maximum -- about 95 percent of the sun's surface will be covered by the moon -- before sunrise in Connecticut. By the time the run rises about 5:55 a.m., only the top 60 percent or so of the sun will remain covered.

Quinnipiac University Theater for Community will present "Eclipsed" by Patricia Burke Brogan, Nov. 8 to 11, in the Clarice L. Buckman Theater on the Mount Carmel Campus at Quinnipiac. "Eclipsed" is set in Ireland in 1963 and takes the audience inside one of the infamous Magdalene laundries to show the daily life of the young women confined there and forced to endure harsh treatment and backbreaking labor for being pregnant but unmarried. The play centers around how these women keep their spirits from being crushed by singing, telling stories and dreaming of marrying Elvis Presley.

A lunar eclipse will be visible tonight over the eastern United States as well as most of Africa and Europe. It will be a short one, with the moon in total eclipse for less than a half-hour. From 8:06 to 8:30 p.m., the moon will be illuminated only by light diffracted by the Earth's atmosphere and will likely appear yellow, brown or deep red. For those seeking an enhanced view, Central Connecticut State University's Copernican Observatory on Wells Street in New Britain is offering a free public viewing from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Coming up with titles is ticklish business. "Eclipsed" is the name the accomplished young African American playwright Danai Gurira has given her new drama, now at Yale Repertory Theatre: a factually inspired depiction of women striving to survive Liberia's recent civil war. Her program notes explain her wish to allow "their eclipsed light a full - though fleeting - chance to shine." The action occurs in the months leading to President Charles Taylor's resignation and exile in 2003 in a nation ruined by terror and oppression, poverty and hunger, sexual violence and the slaughter of innocents.

Want to watch the moon turn colors? Stay up long enough Thursday night, and you'll see it dimly glow orange-red or red-brown as you witness this total lunar eclipse. A total eclipse happens whenever Earth, at the time of a full moon, moves directly between the moon and the sun, and Earth's shadow falls across the moon. This will be visible to nearly everyone in North America as well as Central America and South America. The Science Center of Connecticut, at 950 Trout Brook Drive, West Hartford, is inviting all gazers to view this nature show from 9 p.m. to midnight with center staffers who will answer questions.

Almost lost in the publicity shadow of Comet Hale-Bopp is a near-total lunar eclipse tonight. The eclipse will begin at 9:58 p.m. and reach maximum eclipse at 11:39 p.m., according to William Herbst, a professor of astronomy at Wesleyan University. It will be over at 1:21 a.m. Monday. The comet will not be visible during the peak of the eclipse, but viewers may notice another very bright object in the sky, Herbst said. That will be Mars, moving from the east to the west over the course of the night.

The town's Sunday night concert series starts Sunday with music from the '70s, '80s and '90s. Eclipse will perform in the new town green from 6 to 8 p.m. If it rains, the concert will take place in the new community cultural center. A vendor will sell food and drink, but people are asked to supply their own blankets and lawn chairs.

Three bright planets, an eclipse and the winter solstice provide plenty for amateur astronomers to observe during December, ushering in the official new millennium. Each evening, Venus will shine in the western sky after sunset, brighter than any object except the moon. Venus is quite high in the sky and impossible to miss, even as the sky darkens. The planet remains in the sky for several hours after sunset. A waxing crescent moon appears very near Venus on the evening of Dec. 29. An even thinner moon is below Venus the evening of the 28th.

A pair of eclipses - one of the sun and one of the moon - will occur this month. The moon will pass between the Earth and the sun just before noon on May 10, darkening the day for about three hours. Because the moon will be about as far from the Earth as it gets during its monthly orbit, it will be too small to completely block the sun. Instead, the sun will shine in a brilliant ring around the dark moon. This is called an annular eclipse. Unfortunately, the full ring will not be visible from Hartford.

A total eclipse of the moon, the last for nearly three years, is the heavens' entry in the February sweeps, occurring in prime time on the 20th. And during the 50 minutes of total eclipse, the moon's eerie glow will be accompanied by the twinkling of two planets and a host of prominent stars, seeming much brighter once the full moon's light is dimmed. The moon enters the penumbra, the outer part of the Earth's shadow, about 8 p.m. Feb. 20, but the eclipse won't be evident until 8:45, when the umbra - our planet's core inner shadow - starts taking a slice out of the brilliant disk.

Women and war are at the heart of "Eclipsed," Obie Award-winner Danai Gurira's new play, which begins performances Saturday at the Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel St. The show, directed by Liesel Tommy, plays through Nov. 14. The Yale run is one of three near-simultaneous productions of the new play, which had its premiere at Washington's Woolly Mammoth Theatre (also directed by Tommy) and at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, directed by Robert O'Hara. The play, set in 2003, centers on Liberia's vicious civil war and the women caught up in that struggle.

Holograms walked the studio. Reporters roamed virtual answer chambers. Maps flashed and revolved and zoomed in and were painted on ice with what looked like exterminator's gear. In the first presidential election of the new century without NBC's Tim Russert, the nation's newscasters didn't have a use for anything so common as a whiteboard and marker to explain the results. There were so many graphs, charts, maps and numbers framing the screens, so many results and projections and predictions coming and going, that viewers could barely detect the main story developing.

A total eclipse of the moon, the last for nearly three years, is the heavens' entry in the February sweeps, occurring in prime time on the 20th. And during the 50 minutes of total eclipse, the moon's eerie glow will be accompanied by the twinkling of two planets and a host of prominent stars, seeming much brighter once the full moon's light is dimmed. The moon enters the penumbra, the outer part of the Earth's shadow, about 8 p.m. Feb. 20, but the eclipse won't be evident until 8:45, when the umbra - our planet's core inner shadow - starts taking a slice out of the brilliant disk.

Want something you can really sink your teeth into? Try a new slate of vampire interest, which, like vampires themselves, seems to never die. Vampires and vampire-like creatures (frightening immortals, fanged undead) are once again pop culture's new chic beings. This week, a novel called "Eclipse," about a teenage girl with a bloodthirsty vampire for a boyfriend, knocked "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" from No. 1 on USA Today's best-selling books list. A fantasy romance about a handsome young vampire overtaking the world's most popular boy wizard?

The Sun were immersed in a playoff race Tuesday even though their own had basically ended a few days ago while eating dinner in Chicago. The only thing the Sun have to worry about before Sunday's season finale is who they will play in the first round. But the Washington Mystics, barely hanging onto fourth place and on a two-game losing streak, had everything to lose at the Verizon Center. That was clear watching Alana Beard take over the game. Beard, the former Duke All-American, scored all 18 of her team's fourth-quarter points to lead the Mystics to a 65-64 victory before 7,054.

We may not know -- and should not care -- whether the moon's position is astrologically auspicious in August, but it certainly seems favorable for observers of astronomical events. Three days past full as the month begins, the Earth's natural satellite will reach the new moon phase Aug. 12, leaving the sky at its darkest for the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, one of the two best of the year. Then, half an orbit later, on Aug. 28, the full moon treats us to the second total lunar eclipse this year -- though at a less convenient hour than March's sunset event.

Here is a celestial event for everyone, even the greenest newcomer to astronomy. Beginning in prime time Thursday night, a total eclipse of the moon will occur. Unless the weather spoils everything, it will be unmistakable. "It will be easily visible throughout the Americas. There's nothing tricky about this," said Alan M. MacRobert, associate editor of Sky & Telescope magazine. It also could be the prettiest lunar eclipse in a decade. The moon is expected to be a deep orange-red color during the eclipse.

Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez's campaign for re-election has amassed a hefty treasury, out-raising in dollars his nearest opponent by more than 4-to-1. In total, the Perez campaign has netted $371,000 since it first started raising money in January. The next closest of his challengers, state Rep. Art Feltman, raised a total of $83,000 in the same period. "I am very pleased by this continued wide spectrum of support," Perez said in a statement. "I am running for re-election to finish the job we all started together six years ago and to continue to build on the progress we have made as a city during that time."

On Day 2 of the draft, the Patriots took a big chance and the Jets took a little Chansi. Although it's unfair to group Randy Moss and Chansi Stuckey, a Clemson wide receiver picked by the Jets Sunday in round seven, the latest news typified the offseasons for the Patriots and Jets. After selecting the 5-foot-11 Stuckey, coach Eric Mangini and general manager Mike Tannenbaum emerged from their Hofstra bunker, confident they improved the team over the two-day process. On Saturday, they created a buzz, trading up in rounds 1 and 2 for cornerback Darrelle Revis and linebacker David Harris.